Anthony “Tony” Zinsser passed away in Chicago, Illinois, on December 15, 2023. He was born in Locust Valley, Long Island, NY on June 8, 1945, to August “Gus” Zinsser, Jr., and Carol Phillips Smith. He was a man of great energy, creativity, and determination with a delightful sense of fun.
Tony grew up on the north shore of Long Island. He graduated from Avon Old Farms School with the class of 1964. He made money on the side as a photographer and was an avid cyclist, embarking on 100+ mile rides. His undergraduate studies brought him to Randolph Macon College, and then on to Virginia Commonwealth University for his Master’s in industrial
psychology.
During his time in Virginia, he met his beloved wife, Mary Ann Talbott. They were married on September 19, 1970 and celebrated their 53rd anniversary last fall. Together, Tony and Ann moved to Ohio, where he started his doctoral studies at the University of Akron. Later, he transferred to Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, to finish his Ph.D. in Industrial Organizational Psychology.
After their brief stint in Ohio, Ann and Tony lived in a small garden apartment in Brooklyn Heights before moving into the ground floor of a brownstone in Cobble Hill, eventually purchasing that building from the landlord. They refurbished the 1800s row house floor by floor, finally finishing nearly a decade later. Their son Austin was born in 1979 and daughter Kate joined the family in 1982. Tony was a long-serving Cobble Hill Neighborhood Association member and chief organizer of the annual Christmas tree shredding event.
Also in Brooklyn, Tony served on the Board of Brookwood (formerly the Orphan Asylum Society in the City of Brooklyn, founded 1833) until it’s closure in 2011.
Tony’s work life took him to ConEdison as a foreman on steam distribution infrastructure projects. He then teamed with Dennis Hawyer and served for nine years as Vice President of The Hawver Group.
Also, in the 1980s, Tony worked as a management coach for Pepsi Cola Industries, which enabled him to travel all over the world, visiting bottling plants in Egypt, Greece, and throughout Asia. While on a business trip in 1985 he survived the Mexico City earthquake. Around 1989 Tony left Pepsi to start A Zinsser Consultancy, an independent consulting company providing executive coaching and leadership development to a variety of companies.
In their second great home-owning adventure, Ann and Tony purchased a small cottage on Queechy Lake in Canaan, NY, in 1990, spending many weekends and every summer there. Tony served for years as Treasurer and President of the Queechy Lake Association. He was the Admiral of the Queechy Lake 4th of July Boat Parade, and the Zinssers’ many fantastic parade entries aboard the Queechy Queen took home many awards over the years.
A licensed psychologist, Tony was an adjunct faculty member in the psychology department at Pace University for 18 years and spent 22 years teaching technology management at the Polytechnic Institute of NYU.
Tony’s father, Gus, was a consulting engineer, formerly a designer with Grumman Aviation. His mother, Carol, enjoyed her role as wife and mother while serving on the board of the Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement, and as Vice Chairman and manager of the North Country Exchange, Inc. Tony was predeceased by his parents, his only sibling, August “Peter” Zinsser III, who died two weeks before Tony, and his first grandchild, Anderson Zinsser.
Tony is survived by his wife Ann, their son Austin Zinsser (Lauren Perreault) of Boise, Idaho, and their daughter Katherine “Kate” Zinsser (Caitlin MacAlpine) of Oak Park, Illinois, and four grandchildren: Graeson, Ashleigh, Avery, and Tobias; along with his sister-in-law, Ann, and nephew, August “Gus” Zinsser IV.
His ashes are interned at the Canaan Cemetery on Country Rt. 5.